Today's News

If the North Carolina Department of Social Services wants to write a handbook on what not to do as a county board, all it has to do is record the goings-on of Brunswick County DSS.
If there weren’t lives and significant taxpayer dollars associated with this debacle, it would be humorous.
But there’s nothing funny about providing quality-of-life services, especially for children and the elderly.

BOLIVIA—Superior Court Judge Jack Hooks on Wednesday denied Brunswick County Commissioner Charles Warren’s request for an injunction to stop a hearing to remove Warren from the county’s Department of Social Services board.

Hooks’ order, filed at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Brunswick County Superior Court, allows county commissioners to legally proceed with the removal process. The order also nullified a temporary restraining order preventing the hearing.

The West Brunswick girls’ basketball team missed 20 of 23 free throws in a 42-26 home loss Jan. 31 to East Bladen.

East Bladen hit two 3-pointers in taking a 29-18 lead into the fourth quarter. West rallied and cut the lead to 29-25. A layup by Kianna Pigott began the rally. She then made a steal and passed to Nicole Turner on the left wing, who hit a 3-pointer and cut the lead to 29-23 with 5:35 left.

After an East Bladen turnover, a pass from Pigott to Allison Brown led to a basket, cutting the lead to four points.

Agents with the Brunswick County Vice Narcotics Unit made the following arrests last week:

•Christian Orion Russ, 20, of 1610 Russtown Road, Ocean Isle Beach, was charged with possession of a schedule I controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Russ was taken to the Brunswick County Detention Center, where he was placed under a $10,000 bond.

The State Department of Public Instruction recently released “report cards” for school districts and individual schools in North Carolina for the 2010-2011 school year.

The school district’s average student population is higher than the state average in elementary and high schools. Brunswick County Schools average 579 students in elementary school, compared to the state average of 497 students, and 880 high school students compared to 794 statewide.